The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has announced a series of workshops across the nation to encourage growers to explore the possibility of taking their home-grown innovations to the next level.

The ‘Growers as Innovators’ workshops, to be delivered by Farmers2Founders (F2F), will provide growers with the advice and impetus they need to progress their ideas.

GRDC chairman John Woods said Australian grain growers were experts in overcoming on-farm challenges.

John Woods

“The GRDC knows a wealth of practical solutions are devised by our growers, so we want to encourage them to think about doing more with their ideas which could have widespread application and benefit throughout the industry,” he said.

“The Growers as Innovators half-day workshops are at the ideas end of the innovation pipeline, with F2F being engaged to support growers to develop and advance their ideas – whether it be at a farm level, regional level, or at a whole-of-industry level, either in collaboration, or as an individual entrepreneur”.

Growers attending the workshops will be able to share ideas for new technologies and products, hear what is and isn’t working in agricultural technology, and obtain support to get started with their ideas or to take them further.

Farmers2Founders was established by innovation specialists Sarah Nolet (AgThentic) and Dr Christine Pitt (Food Futures Company). The co-founders saw a gap between the agriculture and tech communities, and knew a unique project was needed to solve the problem.

Sarah Nolet

“F2F was built based on the belief that, if we are to solve the critical challenges facing our global food system, we need more producers involved in ag and food tech,” they said.

“Startups present a transformational opportunity for the food and fibre industry, but right now too many solutions are being developed and pushed into the industry rather than pulled in because they solve real problems. F2F flips this model on its head, placing producers at the centre of innovation.”

The regional workshops will be held in six grain growing locations with the first three planned for Mingenew in Western Australia, Moree in New South Wales and Horsham in Victoria.

Source: F2F

To find out more about the free events or to register, go to https://www.farmers2founders.com/events, or contact [email protected] with any questions.